276 Hours

In 276 hours my main will pass 100 million skillpoints. That's nearly two weeks and if EVE Online has taught me one thing it is that patience is certainly needed.

Norm, as he's known, is the first of my characters to reach this milestone and I think it is fitting that when he does he'll have reached 100million SP with 100 skills trained to Level V.

He has just finished Fighter Bombers V, 39 days it took and now he's off to complete the rest of the Drone tree skills in order to close that branch of training off.

It's slow training, I only have the Level V to do for all Drone skills but once that's done he'll be moving onto something new and I'm not yet sure what that will be.

Scratching the Surface

It wasn't until a few weeks after I started playing EVE Online that I learnt that instead of just being a "space based game" it was a "space based game with a story". 

I've never really read much about the back story and lore that EVE Online is built, I've always intended too but something has always sidetracked me and I've never got around to it. Until last night that is...

A New Star

Whilst reading Reddit I found this thread that had an image that showed that, when in space in the Perrigen Falls region that there was a new star visible. A comparission image was shown showing normal/classic star alongside this one and it certainly does look different.

Image credit to dragonshardz from /r/eve

Interesting I thought and read the comments in the thread and found CCP Falcon had commented:

It's like he's in a Procurer sitting in a belt, looks like bait. I thought no more of it, aside that the star within game looked awesome and it must be part of the continuing lore. A few more pictures were posted showing the star was visible from other regions, but not as bright as if the light hadn't reached them yet... awesome attention to detail CCP.

Speculation

I checked the thread on Reddit a couple more times yesterday and was amazed at how busy it was with people adding speculation or making comment on how it would integrate with the coming Sleeper story that was progressing within the game.

This morning I've seen another post that the star has gotten brighter since yesterday:

Lets just spare a moment to admire that screenshot from the game. 

Not content with that some players have tried to find out what star this is and quite how they did it is beyond me but they seem to have narrowed it the location down a constellation and then a specific star in Jove space. Speculation around this was fascinating to read and there are some seriously clever players in EVE who know not just EVE but so many other subjects that are useful.

Anyway, enough pontificating the belief is that the star is VYX2-I in Jove space although some believe it is W477-P because it had two jumps recorded in the 24 hours before the star appeared. Regardless it appears that something has happened to a Star in Jova space that suggests a high energy event or some form of supernova!

E.L.E.

Jovians have been part of the lore of EVE since the beginning and being a non-playable race there is a lot of rumour and guess work about who they are. It was revealed at some point that there was a disease, called the Jovian Disease, that was killing the Jove and as a result it was suspected that the Jovian race had actually died out and all that left was their technology. This was backed up in books and other Lore by comments about the lack of contact between the Empires and the Jovians in the last 100 years (game time). 

So the Jovians are dead and then I read this on Reddit this morning. Is it coincidence, that the latest update on SiSi seems to have removed all the stargates in Jove Space. 

Image credit to Nu11u5 of r/eve

Interesting development especially as the poster made note that there WERE 101 Stargates in Jove Space and in Rhea we'll be getting 101 new wormhole systems...

What Now

I have no idea but CCP have obviously had a plan and this is all coming to fruition with the release of Rhea next week. I'm certainly in no position to comment or speculate on the Lore aspect of EVE Online but I am going to be reading a lot more so I can understand what is going on.

It appears that I've only scratched the surface of the story of EVE Online and I'm eager to learn more and I've already started reading Templar One to try to understand what is going on but I think I'm going to be rather busy this weekend on the official wiki site reading what there is on the story that I'm a part of.

ISBoxer Gets Nerfed

I may still post on this as I've spoken to a few friends this morning (not just my Goonian friend) who use ISBoxer and they all have differing thoughts. Only one thinks the change won't affect them, the others believe they'll have to close accounts down and go back to having three or four accounts instead of the ten or twelve they have now.

Instead I'd like to link the following reply on the EVE Online Forums by Trinkets Friend to a question he received about the nerf. He's also followed up, somewhat more detailed, on his own blog.

Go read boht the forum thread and TF's blog, well worth it.

Time to offend some people...

Who'd have thought it, an Australian with an awesome sense of humour. 

Then again he does live in Western Australia which is only slightly better than Tasmania but it could be worse, he could be from South Australia like a certain former friend of mine.

Fresh Meat

Unveiled over the weekend was the latest cinematic for EVE Online. As some have said could be the greatest video released for EVE Online to date.

I fully agree.

The audio, which came form players after a CCP request in September, combined with the cinematic are just perfect. I have watched the video a few times and each time I have had the hair on the back of my neck rise.

I've been reading Reddit and several other sites and as a result of the video EVE Online has been getting a lot of attention this weekend and yesterday saw a jump in new characters being created. Which has been taken as a lot of new players signing up.

I'm sure a lot of people will help new players but there are a just as many who are, even now, rubbing their hands with glee at all the "fresh meat" that will soon be undocking and they can scam, con or kill.

That's the shame about it but hopefully even if 5000 people test drive EVE Online from this video and we keep only 10% that's a damn good retention rate from one video.

Update:

According to someone from CCP at EVE Down Under there were 300,000 new trial accounts created within 24 hours of the video being uploaded.

300,000. Damn, if they retain just 10% that's practically a doubling of the average users online.

A Delay In Broadcast

As soon as I click Publish I will be turning off the PC and heading to the air conditioned rooms of the house for the afternoon. 

I shall later put water in the inflatable pool and then soak until the sun sets and the wife tells me to come in. I shall ignore her, get another beer and top up the cold water.

It got to 41C (~110F) where I live today. I've made sure my animals are indoors or in the share, have plenty of fresh water. 

Until tomorrow, when it should be back down to the high 20's/low 30's.

Two Short Posts

Bowhead Update

I had a look at the Bowhead and Johnny Pew released a video of the ship and its current form on SiSi. Its a very ugly looking ship and rather surprisingly it is longer than the Providence, the video doesn't show how much larger it really is.

I think the price of a BPO will be around the 2 billion mark and I've already spoken with a couple of people who are interested in getting one as soon as its released. A plan has been devised to get a few from the stations we know they'll be seeded in.

A thought on Thera

Not enough for a full post but I do like the idea of Thera I just don't think it will be as good as people are saying it will.

A lot of people have said that the new named wormhole system will become a beacon for players and that it will turn into the wormhole version of Jita, that it will revitalise EVE Online and many other things.

I flew around Thera on SiSi and it was interesting (its a frickin' huge system) and Local certainly made me think I was in Jita (it was almost non-stop) but there was nothing that would make me want to live there. 

Sure ice belts, anoms and mining opportunities but it will be a haven for PvP'ers first and foremost. Industrialists and Miners won't have a look in as I imagine there will be at least a few roaming gangs (with bubblers) that will vie for control of any wormholes to the system and pounce on anything that tries to come in or leave.

Don't Panic

Bex has been selling me gas that he mines from w-space and I finally decided that I needed to move it to Jita and it fitted in nicely with having some new manufactured goods and materials needing to be sold too. As a result I've been moving gas and assets around for most of the evening and taking items to Jita for sale. 

Passing through Niarja tonight I had one of those "OH SHIT" moments that every Freighter pilots will have. I'd checked ahead with a neutral alt and Niarja was quiet and both gates I'd be using did not have any obvious scanning or bump ships. So I made the run.

Niarja loaded and just as I enter warp Local lights up, with lots of red flashing:

First reaction is "oh shit" but then I catch a glimpse of one of the red flashy pilots in a capsule. A check of the name shows its CODE. no doubt returning from a gank but for a moment I felt panic that I'd be targeted.

They didn't follow and appear in the next system so I was "safe" and I managed to continue my journey unhindered. 

Although I think the capsule I'm using needs a very vigorous jet cleaning and a pine deodoriser...

Thar She Blows

Announced during EVE Vegas was that there would be a new ship coming in Rhea and I covered "The Tug" (as it was then known) briefly in my Pre-Phoebe post. 

We've finally been given more details and Rhea is set to see the release of the Bowhead, a frieghter sized vessel that contains a very large Ship Maintenance Array designed to carry assembled ships through New Eden. 

Learning To Fly

Being a new ship class means the chance to introduce a new skill for pilots to learn and this means we're going to see the introduction of the Ore Freighter skill. No details have been provided (outside of what bonuses the Bowhead gets from this skill) but I'd expect it to be the same training modifier level as the existing Racial Freighter skills and cost the same (~100m ISK).

Statistics

BOWHEAD

Ore Freighter Bonus:

5% bonus to inertia modifier per level

5% bonus to ship maintenance array capacity per level

Role Bonus: 

90% reduction in jump fatigue generation

Slot layout: 0H, 3M, 3L, 3R; 0 turrets, 0 launchers

Fittings: 1350 PWG, 215 CPU

Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 21000 / 11000 / 39500

Capacitor (amount / recharge) : 3900 / 235000 

Mobility (max velocity / agility / mass / warp speed / align time): 65 / .0675 / 640000000 / 1.37 / 59.89s

Drones (bandwidth / bay): 0 / 0

Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 51.5km / 45 / 3

Capacity (cargo / ship maintenance array): 4000 / 1300000 (goes up to 1.6 something with ore freighter 5)

Sensor strength: 12 

Signature radius: 3200

Reasonable PG/CPU along with 3 each of mid, low and rig slots mean plenty of fitting options available. The Defense statistics suggest that Shield tanking might be viable, more likely a propulsion mod and maybe a shield extender or two, but I'm certain that Hull Tanking (as with Freighters) will be the fitting of choice.

The Forums Speak

The initial details resulted in a lot of feedback on the Forums, as usual some was constructive most was not but that that was constructive has already seen to have caused a change to the Bowhead. The per Level velocity bonus has changed to an inertia modifier and extra Defense added, mainly to the Shields and Structure.

The change to modifying inertia instead of velocity makes a lot of sense and I agree with it. When you're flying a Freighter/Jump Freighter it is the inertia that matters not how fast you can go. Sure if you're AP'ing 20 jumps having an extra 30m/s will make you do that 15km to the gate faster but you'll be losing out because you're going to be entering warp slower due to your inertia.

Gank Target

Ganks happen and happen a lot. Its not uncommon for me to browse through the kills in a major 0.5 high sec system and see dozens of catalysts or tornados lost to kill a single Freighter/Jump Freighter and most of the time these aren't well tanked and are fit for maximum cargo or maximum agility.

A lot of pilots do fit for tank and split their cargo up and take the time penalty for a couple of extra runs rather than risk losing the lot to a gank. Regardless a large cargo carrying ship is going to have a massive target recticle painted on it and the Bowhead will be no different.

Its been said that if a Bowhead is destroyed then anything that survivcs the loot fairy will be lootable by a player from the wreck. This will mean we are going to see Bowheads targeted by gankers not just because its a fat target but because the expectation is it will contain valuable cargo in the form of fitted ships.

Incursion runners are expected to be a major user of the Bowhead to carry their bling fit incursion ships and even just killing on Bowhead and having one blinged out ship dropped will be enough to fund dozens of more ganks.

Defence

With a hull tank fit the Bowhead is expected to have around 420k to 450k EHP and this should be more than enough for the average pilot. Depending on skills we may see this top out just around the 500k mark but if you're fitting anything but tank modules to this then you're asking for trouble in my opinion.

There is no need for cargo modifications, this is a ship carrying vessel not a cargo mover, and any cargo space should be for small modules and other things that cannot be put into a ship in an SMA and should not need increasing.

I'm certainly going to spend the ISK to hull tank any ship I get as well as looking at getting T2 variations of any rigs. The expense will be worth it if I can put off just one gank attempt.

A New Wormhole Tear Extractor

It was just a line in the release notes but with the release of Phoebe came the adding of null sec data and relic sites to low class wormholes (C1 thru C3).It doesn't seem like much of a change but its actually rather an excellent one as many high sec pilots won't venture into null sec but will enter wormholes to run sites.

Aside from the oddness of this behaviour this obviously shows that the day-raider pilot certainly exists and by adding the Data and Relic sites to low class wormholes should see an increase in the loot that comes from them.

Thus was born a new variation of the Wormhole Tear Extractor.

Hypothesis

From this its possible to come up with a hypothesis:

The adding of Data and relic sites to low class wormholes will see an increase in nano'd, warp core stabbed covert ops frigates who are fit to find and complete these sites as quickly as possible.

To a wormhole dweller this means one glorious thing: More Targets.

Catch Me If You Can

However catching them will be difficult as you'd have to allow at least seven seconds, more likely ten, during which time they could easily align and warp out. The delay is caused by deactivating a covert ops cloak and then the time to actually lock a target and activate any warp disruption module(s).

Theorycraft

In a deep dark wormhole somewhere my friend Bex and his cohorts decided to come up with a solution. Bex summed up the task ahead so succinctly:

So what can I produce that is able to efficiently scan out a site, arrive on location cloaked and prosecute the little thieving bastards with impunity.

Much theorycrafting was then performed and eventually the following fit was produced:

[Night Fever, Proteus]

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Core Scanner Probe

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

Warp Scrambler II

Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 800

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Medium Ancillary Current Router I

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Proteus Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter

Proteus Electronics - Emergent Locus Analyzer

Proteus Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration

Proteus Propulsion - Interdiction Nullifer

Proteus Engineering - Power Core Multiplier

Not pretty but the fit has one purpose and you're certainly not going to be tackling anything larger than a Destroyer/Frigate sized hull in this because there is no tank outside of the base the T3 hull gets and all the rigs and low slots are used to provide the Power needed to fit and run the smart bombs.

Testing

It didn't take long for the first test to occur and that was rather successful.

A site was scanned down, with a perch bookmark generated that made all the loot containers warp-able and then it was just a waiting game.

Eventually the fly entered the web and as soon as they moved to a container the ship warped to the container and the smart bombs activated. 

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Helios)

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Capsule)

Covert Ops ships don't have much tank, especially configured for ninja missioning like the was. 

The test was a resounding success but as with any prototype further refinement could be made. So it was back to the fitting tool but at least the basic ship premise had been verified and now a new weapon could be bought into the fight against "the little thieving bastards" that visit wormholes daily.

I've not seen or been provided any details of changes to the fit above, as of yet, but I know that additional variations have been produced for all T3 hull except the Tengu. I guess its only a matter of time before we see, and hear, of smart bombing T3's protecting wormhole Relic and Data sites.

Conclusion

The fit is solid, if a little light on tank however the use is not as a brawler but as a surprise and designed to go after lightly or no-tanked frigates/destroyers. As I've been writing this I have been sent this kill mail:

Kill: Eryx Vanguard (Astero)

which prompted this 'feedback' in Local:

Eryx Vanguard > ps - douche bag move
Apex Bex > bahahaha

Alas Vanguard's pod was able to escape thanks to being ejected just outside Smart Bomb range but regardless the effectiveness of the ship and fit has been proven and I'm sure there will be plenty more killmails to come.

The Week That Was

A Week with Phoebe

It's been six days (for me) since Phoebe was deployed. It was painless update for me and after I'd returned from an evening out I updated my client and was logged in about 30 minutes after Tranquillity came back online.

The new sensor overlay was amazing to see in space, my CEO had fits of pleasure when he saw all his tacticals, perches and other bookmarks when he undocked. I've turned most of the overlay stuff off for day-to-day use but there have been a few occasions, around camped gates, that having the bookmarks appear in space has saved me precious seconds that could have seen me captured. 

I haven't been doing jumps since before Phoebe so I can't say how much jump fatigue will effect me (not much is my prediction). I will be doing some jumps in the coming week, friends need stuff taken in/out plus its good to at least move my market items to high sec ready to move to Jita for sale.

Domination Commander

I've been doing ratting in Curse not because I was bored or in need of ISK but because I was testing out new ships and fits. My current Gila does the job but there are other ships I've never flown that may be better. It has been quite fun using different Faction and T2 ships to see what could replace my Gila as my primary ratting ship but nothing so far has come anywhere near the Gila in terms of cost/dps although I'm going to look at Polarized weapons as an extra 25% damage may be worth it.

During one run I even managed to get my first ever Domination Faction Battleship spawn, previously I'd always gotten Cruiser sized faction spawns, I was hoping that this time I'd get some decent loot and I kind of did but a Domination Shield Amplifier, 1,000 faction ammo and a faction tag was quite a let down. I swear I had better cruiser faction spawns in Providence when I was there, Domination just seem to be ammo, tags and not much else. 

I shouldn't complain too much the Domination Shield Amplifier was worth around 60m.

Results of my tests have been mixed and as much as I love my Amarrian Lasers I've found them to be seriously wanting against the local rats and I've not been at all happy with the fits I've been using. I've been keeping copious notes so in the future you can expect to see a blog post on what I've been doing.

Metamaterials Pricing

Being a producer of Metamaterials I've been saddened by the unit price over the past 8 months. As I've previously written, the price has been very volatile but not in a predictable way. Sure its market so its dependant on other factors but the more T2/capital ships destroyed the more metamaterials will be needed to build new ones. We've seen a lot of ships destroyed but volume of metamaterials sold has been all over the place and pricing with it.

I'm going to see if I can get Lockefox (EVE-Prosper Market Show) to have a look at the prices to see if there is an correlation or pattern to the pricing/volume. I am certain there should be correlation, i.e. certain ships need metamaterials thus more of these destroyed the need for metamaterials increases, but I'm yet to see any proof that this is true.

All Quiet on the Southern Front

There is an active war front near to my home system and as I said last week having PL as nearby neighbours is somewhat concerning but I'm happy to report so far that aside from a few PL or PL-affiliated characters passing through I haven't seen any of them.

I've seen Battle Reports and linked kill mails about what their exploits against HERO but they seem to be nice and busy again them rather than trying to take over the region.

Of course that could change tomorrow but at the moment things are quiet.

Market Activity

Since coming into a "gift of ISK" I've changed my approach to my market activities because I no longer need to make "x ISK per day" in order to keep my accounts active and buy what I need. 

I'm stockpiling the materials I'm making at the moment with no plans to sell unless there is a major market price change. Hopefully what I learn from EVE-Prosper will help me see that well before it happens and I can take advantage and profit greatly :)

EVE-Prosper Show Update

Episode 003 is live and it is much better than previous episodes. Best. Episode. So. Far. as comic book guy might say. The show was more polished this week and I'm sure we'll only be hearing less err.. and ah's" from Lockefox as he gains more confidence in his presenting.

*drool* graph p0rn

The interview with Diana Dial was interesting but it was frustrating with the delays and empty air that happened a few times. Not a production issue more Skype or whatever method of communication they were using (I believe) but this was more than compensated by the excellent discussion between Lockefox and Diana.

I'm loving the graphs that are appearing, as well as looking great they are presented so simply that even an idiot like myself can see the important bits without needing a degree in mathematics.

Cockroaches Assemble

Tonight was the first time I had to do logistics from Null Sec to High Sec and it seemed to be nicely timed with two other characters who were moving assets around, so much so that I even managed to grab a couple of screenshots of my Cockroach fleet as they undocked:

Combined they have a cargo capacity of nearly two million m3 of space and it certainly allows me to move large assets and contracts quickly and simply through New Eden.

I may be a little biased but I think the Amarr racial Freighter/Jump Freighter is by far the best looking even if it does remind me a little of a cockroach.

Oops... They Accidently

I saw this on Reddit last night and it made me smile and then this was linked to me this morning by a friend: 

Oh dear. 

I don't think there is a null sec player who hasn't been laughing at this and CCP over the past 24 hours. More have been hinting that perhaps the mechanics to do with sov, that people have complained about for years, are in need of a review and revamp.

Either way its a laugh at the expense of CCP today.

Should you watch the EVE-Propser Market Show?

EVE-Prosper Market Show

There is no dub-step soundtrack nor is it a static view of the market in Jita but instead there is a video where Lockefox, of EVE-Propser, covers market status, tips and tricks as well as providing analysis and comment on EVE in general.

I did not watch the first episode (but I have now, vov for watching out of order) but I did read the associated blog post after it happened but it was only his post last night, where he addressed both the positive and negative feedback on the show he had received that piqued my interest and got me to actually spend the time to watch it.

I'm not a video blog watcher nor do I listen to any EVE pod casts. Why, because I find most to be poorly presented and lacking any real substance, for the want of better description I find them to be train wrecks. Pieces all over the place, screaming and shouting with very little usefulness. The only one I regularly listen to is EVE Down Under on Friday nights (AU TZ).

Well, Is it a Train Wreck

Far from it, the show is well produced, the presenter knows what he's talking about and more importantly he provides useful information. 

It is very watch able thanks to the experience and knowledge that Lockefox has.

What You See

The Show uses a lot of visuals, after all its on Twitch.tv and YouTube, but some of the visuals are just a waste. 

I don't like is seeing his EVE Client, watching people talking local or enter/leave system is distracting to the eyes and I focus off the audio. Whatever is being displayed should be related to what is being discussed. If you're discussing whats to come in the episode then please, display a list of what is coming not your EVE client with people discussing fights in local. 

I'd much rather see something related to what is being discussed be it a contents page, list of topics, graphs/charts or even a picture of what you're discussing.

Voice of an erm... Angel?

The somewhat gruff North American accent voice is certainly different to what I was hoping for but his voice isn't the annoying fingernails on a blackboard that some would expect. It's funny as now when I read the blog his voice is in my head reading to me.

He sounds like teachers I've had in school and college, they're reading from a script but he's not afraid to sidestep and go off script to provide more and the voice is authoritative.

Wish It Had This

The one feature, especially for YouTube watching, that I feel is a must, is the contents list. The episode contents are laid out at the start but there is no written list that we can refer to and use to jump to specific parts of the show. Either in the show description or better still as slides when its discussed AND then bookmarks in the video that can navigated to.

This to me is a critical oversight but I also know it is a lot of work to manage. Heres hoping that it will be implemented in later shows.

Should I Watch

The show is very good, the content interesting and Lockefox presents it well. I'm not a fan of Twitch.tv (time zone differences don't help) so I always watch via YouTube when it becomes available.

As with any new TV show time must be given for it to settle and develop a rythum, this is no different. Lockefix does a lot of work to produce this show and should be commended for that, years ago I did Shout casts for Battlefield and the shows I helped or presented were far more work than you'd imagine they'd need.

If you do any market activities (buying/selling) then give this Show a look. It may not have a lot for you but you'll be smarter after watching it. I know I was after just one show.

Encouragement

You're never going to please 100% of people so don't even try but you've got a great start and if you enjoy doing it then carry one. You'll pick up new watchers and get constructive feedback from them I'm sure.

Lockefox, please continue producing this show. You're the first, and so far the best, please ignore the haters.

Skill Queue Evolves

Evolves is probably not quite accurate, certainly it is changing with the removal of the 24 hour limit on skills that has been in place since (I believe) it was introduced in 2009.

One of the biggest annoyances with skills was the 24 hour limit, having to remember to keep it stocked and running was a major inconvenience not just when you were playing but if you were away on holiday or had an unscheduled break in play.

The 24 hour shackle is being removed. 

Now that its being removed its fantastic news. I shall be able to load up characters skill queues with as many days training as I see fit (to a maximum of 50 skills). Finally my skill queue will be a closer representation to EVEMon Skill Planning than ever before.

Edit: I can indeed confirm that the maximum number of skills you can have in the queue is no limited by duration but the number of items. Fifty to be precise:

I won't go all OCD on them about the space missing before the opening bracket

I can train my alts safe in the knowledge they just need to be updated once and then can remain logged off for almost the entirety of their skill training. Then I can unleash them upon New Eden.

Huzzah!

CCP have obviously seen more positives in allowing this than negatives and it certainly is in most peoples Top 3 feature likes for Phoebe.

Maybe bittervets can update their skill queues and then leave, same in the knowledge that they are still training but saving the rest of us who do login from listening to their whining and "oh woe is me" posts on the Forums and elsewhere.

Pre-Phoebe Junk

Today has been my first day back at work after nearly 3 weeks of holiday time. It's been a great holiday and as with any holiday there is never enough time to do what you want or what you'd like to do. 

Towards the end of last week I had to deal with temperatures in the mid to high 30's (that's over 100F for those in countries who don't do Celsius as of yet) so the return to air conditioned offices is something of a blessing even if it does mean I now have to return to my day job.

Defensive Posturing

I had a serious think yesterday about my towers in null sec and come to the realisation that the defences they have are inadequate. A couple of small or medium guns with some hardeners and EWAR modules isn't enough to provide a deterrent.

So I'm in Jita buying up modules and ammunition for all my towers, I've gotten some good advice from my CEO about what to focus on getting and lessons I've gotten from posts by Trinket's Friend should mean I have a solid defensive setup before Phoebe goes live tomorrow.

If an attacker comes in anything smaller than a capital ship then we should be able to give them a bloody nose, at the very least. If they bring capitals then they'll have a support fleet or numbers that no POS could survive but the smaller entity we should be able to defend against.

I'm going be hard pressed to get it all into null sec and setup by tonight but hopefully I'll be able to set them in time for Phoebe.

Codename "Tug"

Revealed by CCP Fozzie in the EVE Vegas 2014 keynote was a new ship that is currently codenamed "Tug". A freighter sized vessel designed to "ship that is specifically designed to move around other ships" it comes fitted with a very large Ship Maintenance Hanger that will allow it to carry "multiple fitted battleships".

The obvious name for this vessel would be Orca but as that's taken we'll have to see what unpronounceable name it gets but something whale like is where I'd be putting my betting ISK.

Thar She Blows!

Considering fitted Battleships are 450,000m3 in size this means a SMA at least equivalent to a Super carrier (2,000,000m3).

Details are sparse to non-existent but the ship is certainly going to be very useful in high sec for moving ships around. I see dozens of these moving form Incursion to Incursion and they are going to be a massive target for gankers.

Regardless I'll certainly be investing in one.

Sabre Rattling

It's been interesting reading about the all the alliances moving to new homes, returning to old homes or just moving about in order to be in a better position come Phoebe. Of interest to me today was that PL have moved to Curse and are well positioned to attack either the reemergent Russians or HERO with the possibility of ProviBlock as well.

I welcome our new neighbours but they are a major power bloc in themselves so I'm a little concerned by move and how it could impact my home and what I do. Certianly I'll be paying more attention in the Intel channels but also to external news sites for a few weeks to monitor the situation.

With luck they'll ignore us little guys and rattle their sabres towards the Russians and/or HERO.